12 Walk about Zion, And go all around her. Count her towers; 13 Mark well her bulwarks; Consider her palaces; That you may tell it to the generation following. 14 For this is God, Our God forever and ever; He will be our guide Even to death. (Psalm 48:12-14)
Walk about Zion (Jerusalem), and go all around her. Count her towers. Mark well her bulwarks. Consider her palaces, that you may tell it to the generation following. Why? Because this is God, our God forever and ever. He will be our guide, even to death.
Walk about Zion, and go round about her: tell the towers thereof.(Psalm 48:12)
Walk about Zion - This is a call on all persons to go round the city; to take a survey of it; to see how beautiful and how strong it was - how it had escaped all danger, and was uninjured by the attempt to destroy it - how capable it was of resisting an attack. The word "walk" here means simply to go around or surround. The other word used has a more direct reference to a solemn procession.
And go round about her - The word used here - from נקף nâqaph - to fasten together, to join together, means to move round in a circle, as if persons joined together (Job 1:5), and would refer here properly to a solemn procession moving round the city, and taking a deliberate survey of its entire circuit.
Tell the towers thereof - That is, Take the number of the towers. See how numerous they are; how firm they remain; what a defense and protection they constitute. Cities, surrounded by walls, had always "towers" or elevated portions as posts of observation, or as places from which missiles might be discharged with advantage on those who should attempt to scale the walls. Compare (Genesis 11:4-5); (2 Chronicles 26:9-10);(Isaiah 2:15)
Walk about Zion - Consider the beauty and magnificence of the temple, count the towers by which it is fortified.
Mark ye well her bulwarks, consider her palaces; that ye may tell it to the generation following.(Psalm 48:13)
Mark ye well her bulwarks - Margin, as in Hebrew, "Set your heart to her bulwarks." That is, Pay close attention to them; make the investigation with care, not as one does whose heart is not in the thing, and who does it negligently. The word rendered "bulwarks" - חיל chêyl - means, properly, a host or army, and then a fortification or entrenchment, especially the "ditch" or "trench," with the low wall or breastwork which surrounds it: (2 Samuel 20:15); (Isaiah 26:1).
Consider her palaces - The word "palaces" here refers to the royal residences; and, as these were usually fortified and guarded, the expression here is equivalent to this: "Consider the "strength" of the city; its power to defend itself; its safety from the danger of being taken." The word rendered "consider" - פסגוּ pasegû - is rendered in the margin "raise up." The word occurs nowhere else in the Bible. According to Gesenius (Lexicon), it means to "divide up;" that is, to walk through and survey them; or, to consider them accurately, or in detail, one by one.
That ye may tell it to the generation following - That you may be able to give a correct account of it to the next age. The "object" of this is to inspire the next generation with a belief that God is the protector of the city; that it is so strong that it cannot be vanquished; that there is safety in such a city as that. As applied to the church now, or at any time, it means that we are to take such views of its being a true church of God; of its being fixed on firm foundations; of its being so able to resist all the assaults of Satan, and of its being so directly under the divine protection, that it has nothing to fear. It will and must stand to all coming time, a place of absolute safety to all who seek protection and safety within it.
Mark ye well her bulwarks - See the redoubts by which she is defended.
Consider her palaces - See her courts, chambers, altars, etc., etc.; make an exact register of the whole, that ye may have to tell to your children how Jerusalem was built in troublesome times; how God restored you; and how he put it into the hearts of the heathen to assist to build, beautify, and adorn the temple of our God.
For this God is our God for ever and ever: he will be our guide even unto death.(Psalm48:14)
For this God is our God forever and ever - The God who has thus made his abode in the city, and who has manifested himself as its protector. It is our comfort to reflect that such a God is "our" God; that he has manifested himself as our friend; that we may habitually feel that he is our own. And he is not only our God now, but he will be such for ever and ever. A feeling that the true God is "our" God - that he is ours and that we are his - always carries with it the idea that this is to be "forever;" that what is true now in this respect, will be true to all eternity. He is not a God for the present only, but for all time to come; not merely for this world, but for that unending duration which awaits us beyond the tomb.
He will be our guide even unto death - The Septuagint and the Vulgate render this "he will rule or govern ποιμανεῖ poimanei - reget) forever." The more correct rendering, however, is that in our version, which is a literal translation of the Hebrew. Some have translated it upon death, על־מות ‛al-mûth; others, beyond death; but the true idea is that he will be our guide, or will conduct us all along through life; that he will never forsake us until the close has come; that he will accompany us faithfully to the end. The thought does not, of course, "exclude" the idea that he will be our guide - our protector - our friend - beyond death; but it is simply that as long as we live on the earth, we may have the assurance that he will lead and guide us. This he will do in behalf of those who put their trust in him.
(a) by the counsels of His word;
(b) by the influences of His Spirit;
(c) by His providential interpositions;
(d) by special help in special trials;
(e) by shedding light upon our path when in perplexity and doubt; and (f) by support and direction when we tread that dark and to us unknown way which conducts to the grave.
Man needs nothing more for this life than the confident assurance that he has the Eternal God for his guide, and that he will never be left or forsaken by Him in any possible situation in which he may be placed. If God, by His own hand, will conduct me through this world, and lead me safely through the dark valley - that valley which lies at the end of every traveler's path - I have nothing to fear beyond.
For this God - Who did all these wonderful things: -
Is our God - He is our portion, and he has taken us for his people.
He will be our guide - Through all the snares and difficulties of life: - Even unto death - He will never leave us; and we, by his grace, will never abandon him. He is just such a God as we need; infinite in mercy, goodness, and truth. He is our Father, and we are the sons and daughters of God Almighty. Even unto and in death, he will be our portion.
"For this God is our God for ever and ever." A good reason for preserving a record of all that he has wrought. Israel will not change her God so as to wish to forget, nor will the Lord change so as to make the past mere history. He will be the covenant God of his people world without end. There is no other God, we wish for no other, we would have no other even if other there were. There are some who are so ready to comfort the wicked, that for the sake of ending their punishment they weaken the force of language, and make "for ever and ever," mean but a time; nevertheless, despite their interpretations we exult in the hope of an eternity of bliss, and to us "everlasting," and "for ever and ever" mean what they say. "He will be our guide even unto death." Throughout life, and to our dying couch, he will graciously conduct us, and even after death he will lead us to the living fountains of waters. We look to him for resurrection and eternal life. This consolation is clearly derivable from what has gone before; hitherto our foes have been scattered, and our bulwarks have defied attack, for God has been in our midst, therefore all possible assaults in the future shall be equally futile.
trying to play us
